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Aerocite
"And here's the heart of the whoooole she-bang! One azure aerocite crystal. Small, yes, but this here baby is what keeps the whole ship afloat. Sure the engines propell everythang but this here is the key to flight. Quite th--HEY DON'T TOUCH IT!!!" The Key to Flight Aerocite is a valuable crystal that is found deep underground and often can be identified for its bright glow. Although used by craftsmen and builders since its discovery thousands of years ago, it was the Roldaeran Empire that understood its properties best and first used it as a means to keep airships and other flying objects afloat. This knowledge was lost after the fall of Roldaera and her mighty empire over a thousand years ago, and wasn't rediscovered until the tinkers and thinkers of Sol Uhrwerth developed a method of replicating a process with aerocite very similar to the mysterious mechanism that allows for the Clockwork City to stay afloat. However, this method is by far less advanced than the lost art practiced by the Roldaerans as aerocite crystals in current airships are dangerously unstable and can cause the ship to cease flying altogether if tampered with. Furthermore, due to unknown properties of the Talneth, the Sunrise Sea, and the Helseraphi Mountains, Aerocite crystals will actually melt if over these areas. And lastly, unlike the airships of the Roldaerans, current ships require a system of engines to propell the ship in the air and navigate it. The power of a piece of aerocite depends on a variety of factors but as a general rule, the larger the crystal, the more power within it. The color of the crystal also seems to be a factor. The most common color is a deep blue and azure and most airships are powered by one or two of these crystals (for it's generally safer to fly with at least two crystals). Colors and Mining Blue aerocite can be found underground in most mountain ranges but even then, the process of finding and then mining the rock is an expensive, exhausting, and delicate process. White aerocite is the second most common and generally is found when concentrations of blue aerocite are very strong. White aerocite is comparatively just as effective as blue but generally is more stable. Yellow aerocite is a medium-grade crystal and is favored my frigate-sized airships. It can be found mostly in the rocks below the Sandsea. Green aerocite is arguably one of the more difficult crystals to mine as it is nearly always found growing at the bottom of lakes and oceans. The city of Tyr Vaktmar is powered by massive green aerocite crystals and it is speculated that the Roldaerans that built the city had actually artifically grown the massive crystals because no aerocite of there size has ever been found to be naturally occuring. Red aerocite contains the most power of any other crystal, but it is also the most unstable. Found only in the rocks of active volcanoes, red aerocite is nearly impossible to obtain but the few airships that are powered with it are some of the greatest ships of any fleet. And although not currently in use by any ship, as only one Purple aerocite is known, (the tiny crystal found in the bowls of Sol Uhrwerth), but it is speculated that purple aerocite is the most effective. The crystal that powers Sol Uhrwerth is strange in that it is only the size of a thumb and yet is able to keep the largest flying mass in the sky afloat--Sol Uhrwerth. Building an Airship with Aerocite and the Spread of Aeroneering The skill required to properly handle aerocite for airship purposes is enormous, and to achieve the title of aeroneer (one that can use aerocite to power airships), one typically must spend years under the guiding hand of the masters based in the Aeroneering Guild of Sol Uhrwerth. The secrets to making airships from aerocite was re-discovered by Clockwork engineers during 889 A.R. and refined into an industry for Sol Uhrwerth in the year of 910 A.R. The aeroneers of Sol Uhrwerth were carefully guarded by the Sol Uhrwerthian officials and thus airship technology was reserved to the Clockwork City until the year of 934 A.R. Because aerocite can only be found in the ground, the resource was heavily blockaded by the land nations of Crestas when they discovered that Sol Uhrwerth had developed their newfound airships with aerocite. The trade embargo had lasted for nearly 25 years and it wasn't until the Rhinavarian Empire managed to smuggle an aeroneer by the name of Alfric Opher that the knowledge had passed to the rest of the world. The powerful eastern empire of Rhinavar likewise guarded the knowledge of airship making once Opher was in their hands but in an attempt to save face and to gain from their loss of a monopoly, the Clockwork Council of Sol Uhrwerth decided to make what would later be known as the Dirty Aerocite Pact of 935. Named after the aerocite that the Marnish delivered to Sol Uhrwerth, covered with pounds of gunpowder, the deal would forever change warfare on Crestas. The Marnish Empire's dwarves had recently developed a method of creating the first effective firearms with gunpowder. The newfound weapons and basic hand-cannons were proving to be of some use on the battlefield. The Marnish and Sol Uhrwerth had exchanged technologies and the developement of the first cannon-equiped airships were quickly underway. Before the thousandth year after the fall of Roldaera (1000 A.R.), nearly all modern Crestas militaries were developing airship fleets. Trade and commercial travel also boomed with the spread of airship technology, allowing for growth and communication in ways the people of Crestas have not known since the elder days of the high Roldaeran Period. Although much has advanced in the following years, the progress of airship travel and warfare is still far beyond the mythical capabilities of old Roldaera. To successfully build an airship one requires the skills of an aeroneer, an engineer (for the engine machinism), and the treasury of a small fief. To actually fly an airship is another matter altogether and skilled pilots are in just as much demand as skilled aeroneers and engineers are. As of today, the 1083 year after Roldaera's fall, aerocite is most often found in the mines of the Marnish Empire. And although tensions have risen significantly between Sol Uhrwerth and Marn, a steady trade of aerocite and airships continues between the two.